Good morning Uni Watchers, and welcome to your Monday Morning Uni Watch.
Yesterday’s uniforms offered a little bit of everything, from the “Action” green of the Seahawks, to the Packers in their mono-whites, to the Cowboys donning their Bad Luck Blues for the first time all season, to the Lions running back their blue/black alternates, to the Jaguars throwing back, to the Browns in their 1946 fauxbacks to …
Well, you get the idea. There was a lot going on, uni-wise, on the gridiron yesterday. We’ll get to it all below.
And with that, let’s just delve right into the action.
Thursday Night Football: Rams vs. 49ers
This wasn’t a bad looking game, but it could have been even better if the Rams had worn “sol” (yellow) pants. I’ve very pleased the 49ers seem to have returned to wearing red hosiery with their red jerseys, which is such a classic uniform.
Sunday Early Games: Ravens vs. Giants
The Ravens pulled a bit of a fast one with this game, originally announcing black socks, but they went with white instead. I’m not sure it was a great sartorial decision, but the game was still pretty good looking.
Bengals vs. Titans
I think we can all agree the design of the Titans uniforms is terrible, but they can still come up with some good combinations, and yesterday’s navy/navy/light blue/navy was one of their better ones. So the game itself had a good color balance and contrast. I wouldn’t exactly call it our color palette special, but the orange/black vs. multitple shades of blue was probably about the best matchup between these two squads.
Cowboys vs. Panthers
The Panthers actually wore a repeat combination of silver/white/white/black at home yesterday, forcing the Cowboys to wear their “bad luck blues” for the first time this season with silver-gray pants. When the Cowboys redesigned their uniforms in 1981, I didn’t like the new navy jerseys/silver pants. However, as the years progressed, they grew on me, to the point where I’d actually like to see these worn more often. Matching helmets and pants works well, and the result was a solid Top 5 candidate.
Chiefs vs. Browns
The Browns broke out their 1946 fauxbacks at home, so the Chiefs got to wear red jerseys on the road. The resulting game was as good a game as an all-white team against a regularly attired club could look. I don’t mind that the Browns wear the anachronistic striped helmets, but I question the wisdom of the mismatched striping pattern between the helmets and pants. I mean, if you’re going to add stripes to the white shell, why go brown/orange/brown on the helmet, when the pants have an orange/brown/orange stripe?
Dolphins vs. Texans
While the Texans have worn mono-navy this year, this was their first time doing so at home. That meant the Dolphins would either go mono-white…or all aqua below the waist. Either way, this one wasn’t going to produce a particularly attractive pairing. The Texans navy is almost black, so at least the Dolphins in aqua pants/hose avoided the chess piece look.
Jets vs. Jaguars
For the second time this season, the Jaguars broke out their Prowler throwbacks, and yes, the team should make these permanent. The Jets went with green pants and white hosiery, so the matchup was pretty damn good. I was surprised how well the teal and green looked together on the field.
Commanders vs. Saints
Woof! About the only thing worse than one team wearing stripeless pants with same color hose is when both teams do it. And predictably, the results weren’t pretty. Add in the dark lighting of the Superdome, and it just adds to the overall depressing look of the game. Normally this would be a slam-dunk And One (and it may still be), but there will be plenty of competition for that this week.
Sunday Late Afternoon: Bills vs. Lions
Even before Detroit confirmed it was going with black pants and socks, we knew the Bills would be in mono-white, so this game became an early candidate for the And One. All the better to show off the shoes! You never want to root against a team (but is rooting against a uniform OK?), but we’ll see if the superstitious Lions pair the blue pants with the black shirts next season, since they took only their second loss of the season yesterday in the blue/black alts.
Colts vs. Broncos
Like most white helmeted teams, I prefer it when they wear contrasting color hosiery with an otherwise all-white uniform, and the Colts are no exception. Still, even their all-whites look good. And the Broncos looked great going navy/orange/white/navy. That look alone gives this game a good shot at the good side of the Five and One.
Patriots vs. Cardinals
The Cardinals went white at home for the first and only time this year (they wore white at home once last year as well), putting the Patriots in blue jerseys. And for the sixth time this season, the Patriots wore silver-gray pants, making for a rare nice uni matchup in the desert. Will it be nice enough for a Top Five?
Steelers vs. Eagles
This one disappointed me a bit, because the Eagles teased wearing black socks for this game, but after doing so for the first time last week, they reverted to white hose for the Battle of Pennsylvania. Even so, this was still a good looking game, as the Steelers black/white/gold/black contrasted nicely, and both teams’ pants have some fairly thick stripes, so even with white socks, there was no yoga pants look. A strong contender for a T-5 finish.
Buccaneers vs. Chargers
I prefer the Chargers in gold pants, but when they go white/blue/white/blue, that’s still one of the best uniforms in football. And the Bucs pewter/white/pewter/black is a unique look. It made for another strong candidate for a Top Five showing.
Sunday Night Football: Packers vs. Seahawks
Yowsa! This was one bright looking game, featuring the neon green-clad Seahwaks duking it out with the head-to-toe white of the Packers. It still really bothers my OCD that the Pack refused to match either the jersey or pants stripes to those of the helmet. I actually like the uniform otherwise, despite it being completely unnecessary. Sure, when the NFL was forcing teams into the Color Rush program, the Packers just added white pants and socks and called it a day. And the Seahawks…I’m fine with the “Action” green jersey, just don’t go mono-green below the neck. The best thing to say about this game is thankfully the Seahwaks don’t have a alternate neon green helmet.
And that’s a wrap for Week 15. It seemed as though this week we had either really good or really bad looking games, with not so much in between. And the battle for the And One is probably as strong as for the Top slot. So do you have your Five and One? I’ve got mine…
G
GTGFTS: Oct 7, 1962, Game 3 of 1962 WS. First WS between Yankees and Giants since the Giants moved to San Francisco NYY won in 7 games.
My Five and One
What could have been
Panthers/Cowboys: by far Cowboy’s best look of all time; if only the Panthers had worn blue socks and sleeves and tucked their damn shirts in
5 Jaguars/Jets
4 Broncos/Colts
3 Chargers/Buccaneers
2 49ers/Rams
1 Steelers/Eagles
And One
Seahawks/Packers: uck, uck The Packers all white look isn’t good, and the Seahawks neon isn’t great. However, the Lions black is terrible. Bills with blue pants would have been better but still couldn’t keep this game from being the worst of the week!
Well, I guess that’s a wrap on ever seeing Detroit wear anything at home besides mono blue.
The commentators on the Bills broadcast asked for patience from the their listeners after they made several mistakes naming Lions players. They kept saying how difficult it was for them to read the numbers from the press box.
You could practically do an And Five from this week’s offerings.
-5. Bengals-Titans – Cincy wasn’t bad, and the Titans’ combo wasn’t bad per se, but Tennessee still has a bad uni set.
-4. Dolphins-Texans – Miami wasn’t bad, but could’ve been better; Houston… well, at least they have pants stripes.
-3. Bills-Lions – Buffalo wasn’t bad, but the Detroit black look has not grown on me. It didn’t work for me back when Dan Campbell was a player for Detroit, and it works even less for me now.
-2. Commanders-Saints – NOLA’s mono-black needs to go away. And Washington is another team in dire need of a do-over.
-1. Packers-Seahawks – If I’m to go blind, I’d prefer it be by natural causes, thank you very much!
Genuinely thought the Texans were the Falcons at first glance when I tuned in yesterday…
I simply could not watch the Sunday night game.
Those neon green unis hurt my eyes.
The mono white from the Packers made it even worse.
I’m usually no fan of white hosiery, but I’m also no fan of black for the Eagles. Why don’t they wear green socks? And for me, this Cowboys combination is their best. Why don’t they go back to the Staubach days of matching silver pants with their white jersey.
In their first 2 seasons (1996-1997) after making the switch to the midnight green uniforms, the Eagles wore green socks with their white pants and black socks with their green pants:
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By 1998, they had gone with black socks for both sets of pants.
In fact, when the Eagles rolled out toe prototypes for their new midnight greens, they specifically had green socks with white pants and black socks with green pants.
Of note is the little “Eagles” logo on the socks, which I don’t recall ever seeing on the actual gameday uniforms, although we’re talking about memories from nearly 30 years ago
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What I would rather see from Cleveland is a brown-orange-brown stripe on the white pants.
Just a thought since we’re seeing some fairly blinding looks this week: Does it bother anyone else that the Bengals have so little orange on their actual uniform? The combination of the orange/black tiger striped helmet with the white/black tiger stripes on the shoulders just… does not vibe with me at all. It feels the same way as the Packers’ alts with the striping not matching, but on a larger scale.
My 5&1:
5. KC-CLE
4. NYJ-JAX
3. IND-DEN
2. NE-ARI
1. TB-LAC
&1. GB-SEA
100% agreement on the Dolphins tweak!
GTGFTU: Dec 17, 2023. The Phil mentioned first home game in new white uniforms for Arizona in the Cardinals 45 to 29 loss vs. S.F. 9ers.
Would have been perfect week for rare top rankings for Jacksonville as Jags/Jets looked great. Was surprised Cowboys/Panthers ranked highly as watching that game I thought how dreary it looked especially with Carolina opting for black socks. Had it been sunnier, the purple and royal blue of Ravens/Giants might have been a more serious #1 contender too.
Not a Cowboys fan, but they need to wear their blue a lot more often. Seriously, the whole thing about always wearing white is played out and pretentious.
Die-hard Cowboys fan here. They did wear the navy jerseys once already this season against Detroit, but with the white color rush pants instead of the silver pants. I’ve been preferring the white pants with the navy jerseys lately, but I think alot of that was just because it was FINALLY something different. The silver pants are such a great look and I’ve missed them. I think my dream uni-matchup is Dallas going color v color in their navy jerseys/silver pants against SF in their home red jerseys/gold pants. The parity and contrast would just be so perfect.
I still can’t believe UW hasn’t even commented or touched on the fact that all of the NFL teams seemed to have gotten a mandate about their socks. They must have started enforcing consistent hosiery because I’ve noticed it’s alot more consistent this season after week one than it has been in some time. No more half the teams wearing white socks and the other half wearing colored socks. It’s been so notable around the league it must have been a point of emphasis at some point.
“I still can’t believe UW hasn’t even commented or touched on the fact that all of the NFL teams seemed to have gotten a mandate about their socks.”
I’ve definitely discussed socks/hosiery on here (probably way too much for some peoples’ liking), and I’ve definitely noticed there are fewer players “going rogue” if you will. I’m sure something was said by the League to the teams on that. But in virtually every game there is at least one player (and sometimes several more) who do not follow the sock protocol. We’ve mentioned time and again that fines for uni-violations are basically worthless, since they’re a pittance to most players and they’ll gladly pay said fine. I’ve suggested two (easy?) ways to fix it. One: penalize the violating player’s team 15 yards and a time out once per half as long as players are not in proper hosiery, and two: do not allow the player to take the field until the hosiery matches that of his team.
That may be the only way to get everyone to comply, even if it appears that more players are doing so already.
As Curt Gowdy said when Raiders wore their white uniforms in 1970, “If you are having trouble reading those numbers you are not alone…’
Packers helmets give me old NYJ vibes.
What happened to the Colts blue pants? Really liked those with the white jersey. Also, wish their face mask was white or blue.
Yeah, the Colts would’ve looked a lot better if they wore blue pants with the top. That would be a top 10 combo in the league for me if they adopted it regularly.
The Seattle Morning Sports radio Talking heads were 100% in agreement with the &1 for the Seahawks getup last night. The Sounders wear that same shade as well, and it looks just as ugly.
The Sounders’ Rave Green, which they replaced this year, was never the neon highlighter shade that the Hawks’ Action Green is, and they paired it with Sounder Blue shorts at home. Still, I’d rather see a 5’9″ midfielder in that color tone than a 350 lb guard.
They really don’t.
link vs. link
Rams-Niners should have made the top five.
With the pair of TV doubleheaders we were granted yesterday, it was definitely a good Sunday afternoon for us to check out unis live and in action. And with the Chiefs-Browns ending early on CBS, we got some bonus coverage before our Colts-Broncos game. Our FOX twin bill was Cowboys-Panthers and Steelers-Eagles, making for 4 great looking games. I also made regular checks on the Buccaneers-Chargers on NFL Network Game Day. Those all would have made for a great Top 5, though the Jets-Jaguars and Ravens-Giants created a Lucky 7 for me.
Too bad that the Packers and Seahawks made me want to scream.
And George, your Dolphins tweak was perfect!
I thought it was pretty funny that the Packers wore all white against a neon green getup and Jordan Love (and a few other Packers it seems) wore…. bright neon green cleats.
Made it look like they forgot their cleats and had to borrow some from Seattle.
Lotta players rocking those Kobe’s. They’re pretty nice and looked awesome with the Hawks. Can’t wait to see more Colorways and PE Kobe’s in football.
Ah, interesting! I didn’t realize they were the Grinch Kobe’s.. but that makes a ton of sense. Just felt funny seeing them against a team decked out fully in neon green. Reminds me a little of when Yoenis Céspedes used to wear a highlighter yellow arm sleeve when on the Mets.. and it always just felt like it would make more sense to, you know, swap it for highlighter orange. But I guess it was from his A’s days or something.
I want to get this out of the way first, AH HA Lions, I guess mono isn’t good luck for you. Should’ve just worn the blue pants with the black tops, that way you couldn’t expose monos as non-good luck uniforms. Once the Lions learn the uniforms don’t make them win or lose games, maybe the traditional combos will be back. Or once Dan Campbell is out of there, hopefully he continues to gamble like he did yesterday and it leads him to getting fired in a couple of years.
Hopefully, we’re never treated to the on the field uniform disaster known as the Packers mono white vs. the Seahawks neon green. That game literally hurt my eyes. Packers shouldn’t be caught dead in mono white more than once a season, or at all. Then the Seahawks, even though we’ve seen this combo before it never gets any better. Hopefully, if they return to their throwback designs they leave the neon green behind. BTW, the neon green look is so 2010s, it’s out of style now. Please keep up Seahawks!
Sunday afternoon games always tend to have the best uniform pairings. We got a rare good one for TNF as I liked the Rams-49ers uniform game.
The cowboys are another team that needs to ditch the white pants. That navy blue on silver look has always been a very good uniform. Unlike the Lions, the Cowboys are known for losing in them, yet the Cowboys are never scared to wear them. They won the game too. I wish the Panthers saved their white on blue look for this game to be honest.
The Ravens white on purple look is great, I wish that became their permanent road combination.
Love seeing Washington in the white on burgundy look, also the Jets look much better in green pants in this uniform, I like the Broncos new uniforms, as I wish the Colts adopted blue pants for the road, and I hated seeing the Patriots lose, but the silver pants just look much better. I think Mayo has been more responsible for the team getting away from the blue mono look and wearing silver pants a lot more.
Dolphins need to ALWAYS wear socks the color of the numbers on the jersey while wearing non throwback. That would be a much much better look
“I mean, if you’re going to add stripes to the white shell, why go brown/orange/brown on the helmet, when the pants have an orange/brown/orange stripe?“
The browns have always* had mismatched striping on their classic white uniform, with a brown outer stripe on the jerseys and socks, and an orange outer stripe on the pants. No one seemed to care until they introduced the white helmet.
*with a brief exception in the early ‘aughts when they had a brown-orange-brown item on the pants.
I agree completely with the 5 and one list stated in the article. Tje Jags should really revert to these retro unforms permanently, give them a little twust in the number font maybe. Seattle: never wear the neon jersey with the neon pants again. Wear the navy ones next time you want to bring pain to our eyes.
Phil, I had no idea you have OCD. That really sucks, I’m sorry. I’m not an expert on it, but I know how difficult it can make even the most mundane daily tasks. You deserve a huge amount of recognition and praise for being able to lead a meaningful and productive life while coping with such a debilitating diagnosis. Kudos to you, good sir.